Expiration Day
"Expiration Day" is the 11th episode of Once Upon a Virus. Summary Joe decides to confront Josh about the Virus, as well as everything else that's gone on since he rolled into Storywik, and vows to find a way to deactivate it; unbeknownst to him, however, the race is already on. Meanwhile, Rena is excited to be running away with Justine, whilst she herself starts taking charge of her own life. And in the Wikia world that was, DeviousPeep frees Rena Charming from the Creepypasta Wiki... with a catch. Plot Joe is seen making his way up the steps to the hospital entrance, casually strolling through. He walks past Joanna in the nurses' station and Justine in her room, but eventually, he finds Josh, pacing up and down the hallway. "Mr. Kahn?" Josh says, surprised, but Joe doesn't reply with words – instead, he punches Josh square in the face. "What the hell are you playing at?!" Josh exclaims, trying his best to retain his balance. "I know about the Virus," Joe tells him, but Josh asks him what he's talking about. "Save it," Joe says, "I was just down in your secret vault getting attacked by a giant scorpion." "So that's where my keys went…" Josh utters. "I'm gonna find a way to expose you, you son of a bitch!" Joe exclaims, "And not just for the Virus, but for getting my brakes cut when I first arrived in town, staging your own daughter's kidnapping, killing Ricardo Jones… all of it!" Josh smirks, and tells him, "Go ahead. I have magic. You have nothing." "I know your magic doesn't work on me. Natalia explained everything." "Who the hell's Natalia?" Josh asks, to which Joe replies, "Her real name is MaryPierceLopez." Josh squints, recognizing the name. "My old maid?" he asks, "She's been aiding you?" "She's a lot smarter than you might think," Joe assures him, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find a way to undo your mess before we all freakin' die." Josh looks confused as Joe purposefully walks away from him, plodding onwards with a mission in tow. After forming from blood, DeviousPeep walks with similar purpose as she makes her way through the dark forest of the Creepypasta Wiki, approaching a rather dishevelled Rena Charming who remains shackled to an indestructible tree. "Well, well," she says, "How on Wikia did you get yourself into such a predicament?" "The Evil Bureaucrat," Rena replies, to which Peep says, "Say no more. How long have you been here?" "5 days." "5 days? Pity. You must be starving." "As a matter of fact, I am, yes," Rena tells him, and Peep nods. "You know," she tells him, "I rather hate Reginafan2626, and I'd do just about anything to stick at his craw. So… how about I set you free and give you something to eat and allow you to get back to your true love before she gets married?" "Lady's getting married?" Rena asks, desolate. "Yes, to Villain fan. In a matter of hours," Peep tells the lad. "How did you know she was my true love?" Rena wonders, and the witch explains, "Oh, honey, I know everything that goes on round here." There's a pause, and she continues, "So, to reiterate, I'll let you go, and feed you, and in exchange… you will do a little something for me." "What is it you want me to do?" he wonders, and she tells him he'll only find out once he's accepted the deal. He points out how unfair that is, and she agrees, but she points out in turn that she's not the one chained to a tree, thus, she has leverage. "So… what'll it be?" she asks him, and Rena spends a while staring at the Blood Wiccan. Eventually, he says, "Deal," and she smiles, telling him he's a good boy. With one tap to the shackles from Peep, they fall to the floor, unlocked, and Rena is able to move his hand away. Peep then hands him a large chicken drumstick, having formed it from thin air, and hands it to him. As he devours it, Peep tells him, "That a boy. You're gonna need all the strength you can get." "What exactly is my end of the deal?" Rena asks between bites, and Peep tells him, "There's a certain troll I need you to face… I believe it goes by DisneyMeerkats." Val sits at her desk in Josh's office when the Mayor himself rushes in, and the PA wonders what he's doing there so late. "We have a problem," Josh tells her. "Another one?" she asks, annoyed, and Josh tells her, "Yes. Joseph Kahn knows." "Knows what?" Val wonders, but Josh pauses before telling her that's not important; "The point is, he needs to be stopped." "We tried that already," Val reminds him, "And we failed." "Maybe this time we need to get rid of him on a more permanent basis," Josh suggests, at which Val further reminds him he's already about to kill Renato Smith; "Maybe you should cool it before you become classed as a mass-murderer?" "Well, what do you propose I do?" Josh wonders, and Val tells him to sleep on it; see how he feels in the morning. "In the meantime," she adds, "Just be excited about the fact that Renato is dying tomorrow." "Yes," Josh says, an evil smile curling his lips, "That smug son of a bitch is finally going to bite the dust… and he has no idea." Rena is seen packing his suitcase in his apartment when Joe returns home. "What are you doing?" Joe wonders, and Rena tells him, "Justine and I have decided to run away together." Joe is shocked and immediately has Justine's note shoved into his hand; he gives it a read and his shock doesn't lessen. "Aren't you going to discuss this with your father first?" Joe wonders, and Rena tells him, "He's asleep at the moment… I plan on leaving a note." Joe looks at him with surprise and Rena says he knows it's crazy, but he and Justine love each other, so no one can stop them from starting afresh somewhere else. "Wait," Joe says, "You can't leave!" Rena sighs, "Don't tell me you disapprove as well…" "It's not that I disapprove, it's just that you physically cannot leave this town," Joe tries to explain, "If you do, your car will crash, or something worse. Just look where Justine ended up after the wedding! If you try to leave, you're going to die. Promise me you won't…" Rena doesn't say anything, prompting Joe to exclaim, "Promise me!" "Alright, alright, I promise… I'll, um, stop packing I guess." "Good," Joe says, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta catch some sleep." He retreats into his bedroom, and when he's gone, Rena takes more clothes and shifts them into his suitcase, ignoring his promise to Joe entirely. Rena and Peep are seen walking through the vast forest of the Once Upon a Time Wiki, and the former asks the witch why they can't simply use that blood trick of hers, to which she replies, "I don't take carry-ons." "So what do you want me to do when I face this troll? Kill it?" Rena wonders. "If you must," says Peep, "But it isn't essential. All I need is some of its DNA. Hair, blood, skin, what have you." "What for?" asks Rena, and Peep tells him, "For another plan of mine." "What plan?" he asks further, but the witch tells him that that's none of his business. "You're a powerful witch," Rena points out, "Why can't you capture this troll by yourself?" "I did, once… but I foolishly let it slip through my fingers without knowing how important it could be. Since then, I've learned of a certain defense mechanism this creature beholds which I'd rather not face one-on-one." "Wait a second," says Rena, "You're afraid of this creature? How on Wikia am I'' meant to have a chance at defeating it?" Peep shrugs, saying she's sure a strapping lad like him will have no trouble. "All I need is the DNA? And then I'm done?" he wonders. "Yes," Peep says, "But there is a small condition. For you see, trolls are shape-changers. The DNA will have to be obtained when DisneyMeerkats is in its true form, which I presume can be witnessed should it be subdued." "How am I meant to do this?" he asks himself, to which Peep replies, "I'm sure you'll find a way." "We ''have to find a way to put a stop to the Mayor!" Joe exclaims as he wanders into the Sheriff's Station the following morning. "What d'you mean?" Liz wonders, and Joe tells her that Josh is behind everything; "He had the brakes cut in my car the first day I arrived in town. He staged Justine's kidnapping. He killed Ricardo Jones. He arranged for you to be beaten up by thugs outside your home and he got his assistant to frame me!" "Do you, um, do you have any solid proof to support these claims?" Liz asks, to which Joe says he does not; "But I'm sure it was Josh… he practically confirmed it when I confronted him last night." "We've tried going up against Josh before, remember?" Liz reminds him, "It never leads anywhere. He's too good at covering his tracks." "Not this time… I'm gonna defeat him… he can't win; not now I know I'm the savior." "The what?" asks Liz, looking confused, but Joe says it doesn't matter. Natalia is sitting at Justine's bedside in hospital, and she's surprised to hear that her old friend has accepted Ben's re-proposal. "I didn't want to, but I felt so pressured by my father and so guilty after running out on the wedding the way I did," Justine explains. "The only thing you have to feel guilty about is allowing it to get that far. You were never meant to marry Ben," Natalia tells her. "I know, I know," Justine says, "And I don't want to… I met someone else." "That was fast," Natalia points out, and Justine says she knows; "But what I feel when I'm with him… it's definitely love." "Who is this mystery man?" Natalia wonders, and Justine tells her that it's Renato Smith. Natalia smiles, telling her friend that she should definitely go for it, and Justine asks her if she's sure. "Yes, I'm sure," says Natalia, "Who knows? The two of you could even end up getting married one day." Lady Junky is sitting at her dressing table in a white wedding gown, crying. "Mrs. Lady," MaryPierceLopez is saying, "You have to stop crying. You'll ruin your face!" The maid tries applying makeup to the pretty blonde, but Lady tells her she doesn't care how she looks; "All I want is to be with Rena Charming." "Well you can't, sweetie… he's dead," Reginafan2626 says, walking in with his scythe and dressed all in black. "Excuse us, maid. I'd like a private moment with my daughter." Mary nods and leaves the room, and Reginafan pulls up a chair, turning Lady's with his magic so that the two of them sit opposite one another. "I don't want to marry another, father," Lady complains, but Reginafan tells her that that's preposterous; "Villain fan loves you." "But I don't love him," Lady says. "Sweetheart… that doesn't matter," he says sweetly, "Because you can learn to." "Can't I please be let out of this? I'm begging you." "Oh, sweetie… no. You can't," he maintains his sweet and loving tone, making it slightly eerie, "Because one way or another… you're marrying the man I chose for you. I don't care if I have to force you down that aisle by poking you in the back with the end of my scythe, but it's going to happen. So, you can either submit and make the experience more… slick. Or, you can rebel, and experience for yourself what it's like to be a snooker ball." He leans in to kiss her on the forehead and wipes her tears away with his thumb. "Can you at least stop dressing like that for the wedding?" Lady asks, and Reginafan smiles, saying, "Sure." With magic, he makes his scythe disappear and becomes dressed in the formal outfit we saw him wearing in the very first scene (see "Welcome to Storywik"). He then clicks his fingers and calls for the maid, and MaryPierceLopez comes scampering in, being instructed by the Evil Bureaucrat to fix his daughter's face. She nods and goes to the makeup, and Reginafan tells Lady that he wants to see no more tears from her today. She nods sadly and her father exits the room. With her purse slung over her shoulder, Natalia exits the hospital just as Joe arrives; he asks her what she's doing there. "I was visiting your mother," Natalia tells him, to which he says, "Yeah, I still find that weird." "What are you doing here?" Natalia wonders, and Joe explains he was hoping to run into the Mayor again and get a confession on tape, having gotten a Dictaphone from Liz which he then takes from his pocket. "Well, as far as I know, he's not in there. But feel free to check," Natalia says. The two of them part ways, but as Natalia walks further forward, she sees something in the woods in the distance. She grabs a pair of binoculars from her purse and is able to see black smoke forming amongst the trees. "Joe!" she calls, "Joe! Get over here!" Joe suddenly comes running down the hospital steps to meet Natalia and asks her what the matter is; "And why do you have binoculars on you?" "Plan B for getting you to believe was to follow the Mayor around and hope he did some magic. Anyway, that's not important. Look!" She holds them up to his eyes and he too sees the black smoke slowly forming in the woods. "What the hell is that?" he asks, "A forest fire?" "No," Natalia tells him, "That's what it looks like when the Virus' expiration begins! It's gonna consume the town and kill us all!" "How?" Joe asks, "You said it wasn't meant to happen until three months after I arrived!" Natalia looks guilty and says, "I think my meddling in time travel may have thrown things a tad out of whack. On the bright side, the smoke seems to be compiling a lot slower than usual…" "So I have to deactivate the Virus today?!" Joe exclaims, and Natalia tries smiling, telling him, "No pressure." He looks extremely worried. In the hospital, Joanna is telling Justine – who's in her regular clothes – that she can leave when she's ready to go, and the beautiful blonde thanks the redheaded nurse for telling her. Joanna leaves the room and Ben immediately enters. "Oh…" says Justine, "There's not much time for a visit, my father's coming to pick me up." "No, he's not," says Ben, "He sent me." "You're going to drive me to my father's house?" Justine asks, but Ben shakes his head, saying, "I'm going to drive you back to our apartment." Justine looks annoyed, and tells her fiancé that things are already moving too fast for her liking. "Hey, I'm trying to be delicate," Ben says, but Justine yells, "NO!" Ben looks frightened by her usually unseen temper, and she continues raging at him, "I refuse to marry you! I refuse to live with you! I don't even particularly like standing in the same room as you!" "You're not thinking straight…" Ben tries, "Let's get you home and—" "I have no home!" she exclaims, "Not with you! And as for thinking straight… I don't think I've ever seen things more clearly." She removes her engagement ring and violently throws it at him, but he just manages to catch it as his ex-fiancée grabs her suitcase and begins wheeling it out the door. "I'll find my own way home, thank you very much," she says before leaving, and Ben looks down at the diamond ring in his hand, looking absolutely crushed. Villain fan approaches Reginafan2626 in the palace of the Once Upon a Time Wiki. "Is Lady Junky ready to get married?" Villain asks, to which Reginafan replies, "I hope so." Villain nods, and the Evil Bureaucrat adds, "All we have to do is pray that nothing will go wrong." Elsewhere in the Once Upon a Time Wiki, Rena Charming continues to hike alongside DeviousPeep, and the two of them soon make it to the bridge under which lives DisneyMeerkats. "Um, what's that?" Rena asks, pointing to the pile of bones nearby, and Peep explains to him that they're the remains of all the men she sent before him. Rena looks shocked, and Peep asks him, "Did you think you were the first? Oh, I'm sorry. I can lie to you and tell you that you are if it will make you feel more special." "I don't care about that!" Rena exclaims, "But I'm not going up against a creature capable of leaving no meat on my body whatsoever!" "But you have to," Peep tells him, "Or I'll kill you and then you'll have no chance of reuniting with a certain someone else's blushing bride!" "What am I even meant to fight it with?" Rena wonders, and Peep tells him to look down. Suddenly, he is holding a sword and shield in his hands, and she tells him he's all set. "Now what?" he asks. "Now you say hello." "What?" "Good luck," she wishes, before pushing him from the bridge, and Rena plummets towards the ground. Right before he's about to hit it, however, he pauses in the air – courtesy of Peep's magic – and hits th floor a few moments later, perfectly alright. He scrambles to his feet, grabbing the sword and shield, and DisneyMeerkats exits its shack in troll form. "What're you doing here?" it asks grumpily, and Rena says, "I'm here to slay you, vile creature!" Disney rolls her eyes, saying, "Another one? This is starting to make me angry. And bad things happen when I get angry." Rena steadies his sword, but suddenly, the squat troll before him begins transforming. Everything about it grows and changes, and before long, a massive dragon stands before Rena; black scales, giant wings, horns and spikes. It breathes a jet of fire, which narrowly misses the blacksmith, and he cowers in fear of the monster. In his apartment, Rena finishes packing and checks the time. He then lifts up his suitcase and carries it with him out the door, leaving a note, on top of which reads DAD, in his wake. "Time to get everything I've ever wanted," he says before shutting the door behind himself. Joe and Natalia are still panicking in the parking lot of the hospital. "This is just typical," Natalia is saying, "Right as your parents were getting back together." "Yeah, Rena said they were meant to be running away tonight." "What?" Natalia asks. "He and Justine. They're planning to run away together. I tried talking him out of it but I don't think he listened." "Joe," Natalia reminds him, "I was just with Justine, and all she mentioned was that she had feelings for Rena. She mentioned nothing about running away with him…" "What are you saying?" Joe wonders, and Natalia suggests that someone else has arranged to meet with Rena having told him he'd be running away with his true love as pretence. "Who would do that?" Joe wonders, and Natalia suggests, "Maybe someone who's been adamant all along that the two of them don't end up together…" "Josh!" Joe explains, "We have to save him! We have to save my father!" "Do you know where they're meant to be meeting?" Natalia asks, and Joe recalls the note he read earlier, saying that they're meeting at the town sign. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" she exclaims, and the two of them run to Joe's white car. Rena approaches the town exit where he waits for Justine, his suitcase sat beside him. Meanwhile, Joe and Natalia speed down the road in the former's car. In the passenger seat, Natalia uses her cell phone to call Liz. Rena continues to wait, but Josh emerges from the nearby bushes, a gun hidden behind his back. Liz rushes out of the Sheriff's Station and gets in her car. She begins driving away, flaring her siren. "Mayor King?" Rena utters, "What are you doing here?" "I'm sick and tired of you tainting my daughter," Josh replies, gun still hidden, "No more." "What are you talking about?" Rena asks, and suddenly, the Mayor points his gun right at the bartender, who raises his hands into the air. "You know… you really should've known that that note wasn't genuine… after all, Justine is hardly able to bring her car. Hers was destroyed, remember? Not that far from this very spot…" "What are you doing?" Rena asks, scared and backing away. "My magic may not be able to harm you but a bullet will," the Mayor states, but Rena suddenly turns his head to the headlights in the near distance. Josh turns his head also, keeping the revolver firmly aimed, and it's not long before Joe's car pulls up beside the scene. He gets out whereas Natalia remains in the passenger seat. "Josh," says Joe, "We've phoned the sheriff already. This is over… put the gun down." With his hands up, Joe steps slowly forward, parking himself in front of his father. "I am sick of you ruining my plans!" Josh exclaims, "Everything was perfect before you arrived! You have destroyed everything that I have worked so hard to build!" Tears well up in his eyes. "Give me the gun, Josh," Joe requests. "Step aside," Josh requests in turn. "Give me the gun, Reginafan," Joe tries, but Josh angrily exclaims, "That's not my name anymore!" "What's going on?" Rena asks from behind Joe, his hands still in the air. "You don't want to hurt anyone…" Joe tries convincing the Mayor. "Oh, but I do," he says, "You shouldn't have come tonight, Joe… all it means is that I'll be burying two bodies in the woods." "Give me the gun, J—" Joe tries one more time, but a shaking Josh pulls the trigger, and Joe falls to the ground, a red hole in his chest; blood begins welling up beneath his shirt. "And now for you…" Josh states, pointing the gun at the now-exposed Renato. "NO!" Natalia screams, tackling Josh out of the blue, having exited the car without anyone realizing. The gun falls from the Mayor's hands and Rena quickly picks it up. Josh uses his magic to repel Natalia, causing her to fly back a few feet, and he tries getting to his feet. "On your knees!" Rena order, pointing the gun right at Josh's head; the Mayor remains kneeling, his hands now raised. The siren of Liz's car can be heard faintly in the distance now. "Joe!" Natalia exclaims, crawling towards his body. She puts a hand in his blood and begins crying. "No… no, you can't…" Suddenly, smoke begins to seep from the surrounding woods, and everyone in the scene is about to be devoured by the Virus' deadly expiration. "You can't die, please!" she yells, "You have to… you have to deactivate…" She can barely talk for tears, and Rena is crying too, but doesn't move from aiming his gun at Josh. "What's happening?" he asks, seeing the smoke close in, and Natalia replies, "The inevitable." Suddenly, Joe's eyes spring open, glowing a fierce shade of purple. A burst of magic extends from his mind, washing over Natalia, Josh and Rena; the latter of the three drops the gun and rubs his head, his mind suddenly full of memories. The smoke dissipates as the magic hits it, and soon enough, there is none left. The burst extends all over town. Down the street, Liz is hit by it and suddenly brakes her car, remembering who she is. In the hospital, clutching the ring, Ben is suddenly hit by it also, remembering who he is. Meanwhile, Joanna watches as the wave washes over her colleagues, and she smiles with glee. At Josh's office, Valentina is hit by it, remembering who she is. In the streets, Justine is hit by the burst of magic. "My baby," is the first thing Lady Junky utters in over 21 years. "Joe…" Natalia utters, and the wound in Joe's chest closes up, with all the blood disappearing; his shirt even repairs itself. "What's happening?" Josh asks, back on his feet. "The Virus has been deactivated!" Rena Charming happily realizes. "No… NO!" Josh exclaims. "Yes!" Natalia exclaims in turn, "You did it, Joe!" "Son…" Rena utters, looking towards the revived savior, "You're okay!" he dashes towards him, but suddenly, Joe uses his newfound magic to push away Natalia, and his father. They and Josh both fall to the ground, and Joe's eyes glow a brighter purple as he raises himself into the air. He hovers there for a moment. The three people around him find their way back to their feet, and Natalia utters, "Joe…?" "My name's not Joe," he tells her, his voice much more cold and merciless than usual, "I am Jdg98…" With that, he lifts his hands into the air and two powerful bolts of lightning extend from them in continuous streams, disappearing into the clouds. ImmaGleek sees them from within her car. Villain fan looks at them through the window at the hospital. DeviousPeep watches them through a separate window, and appears curious. DisneyMeerkats watches confused from Josh's office, and returns back to its troll form. Lady Junky sees them from across town, and screams at the sheer ferocity of them. Jdg98 continues to hover, power brimming through him, and ceases the lightning bolts. He then completes his sentence by saying, "And the Virus was nothing compared to me." Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes Category:Lady Junky-Centric Category:Rena Charming-Centric